Carson City chocolatier spreads joy by creating sweet masterpieces

Chocolate.

Beloved by so many, perfected by so few.

Carson City is fortunate to be the home of one of these passionate, professional chocolate makers.

But Laura Fink is not just a chocolatier. She's also an artist.

She sees chocolate-making as a creative outlet, something fun to do that also engages her passion for the cocoa bean and its savory cocoa butter.

"I have been making chocolates and treats for family and friends for decades," said Fink, the owner of Moondance Chocolates in Carson City. "But I developed a serious passion for chocolate making after the positive reaction I received when I made hand-dipped truffles for Christmas gifts five years ago."

Fink is not only passionate about making chocolates. She's also dedicated.

She works full-time as an office manager during the week, and then wakes very early on Saturday mornings before dawn — when most people are still asleep — to arrive at the Brewery Arts Center on West King Street in Carson City and begin her creative sessions in the upstairs kitchen.

She does this largely because of the science behind chocolate making. Indoor room temperature and outside barometric pressure play critical roles in the chocolate-making process, Fink said.

For the chocolate to set correctly, humidity must be very low and room temperatures must be set at between 62 and 70 degrees for optimal results, she said. Cooler temperatures will thicken the cocoa butter, while warmer temperatures thin it.

"The most challenging aspect I face is climate," said the 16-year Carson City resident who had moved from Seattle, Washington. "The ideal room temperature for making chocolate is 65 degrees with low humidity. I can forget doing much on rainy days."

In Northern Nevada, Fink is relatively safe from high humidity. But the temperature extremes in the Great Basin can also be brutal, making the thermostat setting all the more crucial for ideal chocolate making.

There's also the internal temperature of the cocoa butter that Fink must keep a vigilant eye on through the process of producing a batch of her gourmet chocolates. An often-cyclical process of heating and cooling are necessary to give the melted chocolate its proper consistency.

"The chocolate must be tempered when melted for use or it will be streaked and grainy," Fink said. "To temper chocolate, it needs to be heated to specific temperatures, stirred and cooled, and in some cases heated again which stabilizes the cocoa butter crystals."

The chocolate shells Fink creates first are poured into a polycarbonate mould and cooled to set up for the ganache (chocolate and cream) filling, Fink said.

Ganache is still warm when it is placed in the shells, she said, but below 85 degrees internal temperature.

Then the chocolates must set again with the filling inside the shells.

"It's a long and tedious process to complete a batch," she said. "The filling can only be capped off when it's set up."

Fink uses a wine cooler refrigerator to cool her chocolates and for their final set.

The science of chocolate making is a pursuit of perfection for Fink, who uses only the highest quality chocolate and other ingredients to ensure her gourmet treats come out just right.

"I use organic and local ingredients when possible," she said. "I buy cream by the pint so it's always fresh, and I only use Belgian chocolate, because it has a nice snap to it, but melts easily and has a smooth, silky taste."

Many of her chocolates also present with a high-gloss look to them. Fink said this is due to using her high quality polycarbonate moulds, "which contract slower than the chocolate when it cools, which also makes unmoulding easier."

Despite the complicated process behind chocolate making, and the hours it takes to complete a batch from start to finish, Fink regards her craft as much of a creative pursuit as a scientific method.

"I am also an artist and have a need to be creative, so I learned how to paint with melted colored cocoa butter," she said. "I see each chocolate as a tiny canvas or sculpture."

Hanging her shingle at the Brewery Arts Center, then, is an appropriate fit for a chocolatier who produces edible masterpieces that are as tantalizing to the tastebuds as they are easy on the eyes.

"It's important to me that they taste as good as they look," Fink said.

She said her brother, Michael, was instrumental in helping her launch a business out of her chocolate-making passion.

"He is a board member at the BAC and decided the new cafe needed chocolates to go with the coffee," Fink said. "He encouraged me and gave me the confidence to go for it."

She decided to open her chocolate-making business in December 2017 called Moondance Chocolates, in a nod to her favorite song title.

"I wanted it to sound like the anticipation of something wonderful," she said.

Fink said she prepared to open by first speaking with a master chocolatier who imparted his wisdom.

"Last year I was fortunate to talk to one of the top 10 chocolatiers in the country, and he gave me valuable information, such as essential equipment and how to make the chocolates have a longer shelf life without using preservatives," she said. "His best advice was to not be afraid to experiment with flavors."

And so she has.

Her current menu of chocolate flavors include Lavender Honey, using French lavender and locally produced honey. There's also her Mocha, White Chocolate Mocha, fresh mint using real mint leaves, Chocolate Caramel Truffle, Jasmine, green tea Matcha, Peanut Butter Cup and a special creation called "Campfire," inspired from the smoke generated by so many local wildfires in recent years.

"I was inspired to make a chocolate that I call 'campfire' when we had all of those wildfires," she said. "I used chipotle peppers which is smokey and hot, and I decorated it with swirls and edible glitter stars. It's been a big hit."

Other flavors include fine liqueurs in their filling. From Brandied Cherry, featuring bing cherries and Hennessy cognac, to Whiskey Raisin, which contains Thompson raisins and Woodfold Reserve whiskey; Ginger, featuring crystallized ginger and Hennessy cognac, to Coconut Rum, featuring toasted coconut and Meyers rum; from Raspberry, featuring organic raspberries and Framboise, to Orange, featuring candied orange peel and Grand Marnier; as well as "Caribbean," a fascinating mixture of lime, coconut cream and Meyers rum.

There are many other unique and special flavors that Fink continues to experiment with and produce her chocolates from.

"All of my chocolates are original recipes," she said.

Fink's real pleasure, though, is not as much in creating her edible works of art as it is more in the reactions people have when they bite into them for the first time.

"The look on the faces of people who enjoy my chocolates makes it all worth it," she said. "It's incredibly rewarding to spread a bit of joy around."

To place an order or for more information about Moondance Chocolates, email Laura Fink at laura@moondancechocolates.com. Or visit her chocolates on display and for sale at Expresso Yourself Cafe inside the Brewery Arts Center, 449 West King Street in Carson City.